


a tale as old as time

by tvfanatic97



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Matchmaking, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-06 23:43:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18861349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tvfanatic97/pseuds/tvfanatic97
Summary: Through a huge misunderstanding Peter accidentally manages to give Morgan the idea that MJ is his girlfriend and rather than just correcting her like any normal person would, he instead convinces MJ to pretend to be his girlfriend when Morgan insists that he bring her with him the next time he comes to visit. Things get out of hand from there.





	a tale as old as time

**Author's Note:**

> Here's a light/fluffy post-Endgame fic to help take away the pain :)

Peter sits in silence, allowing his dumb words which he now admittedly regrets saying out loud with hindsight- especially given MJ’s reaction, or _lack thereof_ \- hang over them.

He manages to stew in the silence and his own shame for a moment longer, realistically only a minute or two but in Peter’s head it feels like it’s been closer to thirty minutes or an eternity if he's being extra over-dramatic. He looks up again at the girl- _woman_ \- opposite him to try and get a read on her but much like the other fifty times he’s looked to her, she’s still reading her battered copy of ' _Bad Feminist'_ , giving no indication that she’d even heard what he said.

He has a momentary panic as he grapples with whether to say his idiotic words aloud again and ensure his future humiliation or just brush it off and pretend like he hadn’t said anything at all when MJ moves to put her book down.

However, instead of looking up at him and finally acknowledging his presence she picks up the mug of tea sitting in front of her (three years of friendship and he still has no idea how she always gets the school cafeteria staff to make her her tea). She sips it slowly, painstakingly so to the point where it seems intentional, like orchestrated torture designed to make him sweat, before placing the cup down then picking up her book and carrying on from where she left off.

This is Peter’s last straw and he decides to hell with being humiliated as he blurts out, “Did you hear what I said Em?!”

MJ slowly puts her bookmark back in her book to mark her page then gently places it on the table, like you’d do with a sleeping baby which- _technically_ , MJ’s books are like her babies so that simile checks out as far as he's concerned. She runs a gentle, loving, hand over the front cover of the book trying to flatten down the worn upper right corner for a moment then finally, _finally_ , looks up at him with her usual bored and apathetic expression. “I did hear you Pete. I’m just failing to understand why, one: you somehow managed to get yourself into this predicament to begin with, and two: why I have to help you with this. Just tell her she assumed wrong.”

“The thing is-” Peter starts, eyes flitting to look up at the ceiling before he carries on because he’s not certain he wants to look MJ in the eye for this next part. “She just saw my lock screen, which is of you, and automatically assumed you were my girlfriend and I tried to correct her but she kept going on and on about how pretty you are which I totally agree with- as your friend in a totally platonic way, _obviously_. Anyway, she was talking excitedly about how pretty you are and how happy she was that I had such a pretty girlfriend and could be happy again since um, you know, and then she said she’d love to meet you and I should bring you next time I babysit her and I agreed before I could stop myself,” he rushes out all in one breath.

“Peter, _breathe_ ,” MJ instructs calmly.

He does as he’s told and takes a deep breath in then out which is meant to be calming but doesn’t have the intended effect.

When MJ seems satisfied he’s not going to pass out from lack of oxygen she finally speaks, “Why would you promise to bring me with you? Was lying about me being your girlfriend to a six year old not enough for you?”

Peter looks down at his hands which rest on the table, feeling slightly ashamed about his actions when MJ puts it that way. “She was so excited and I didn’t want to take away her joy. What kind of monster would take away a six year old girl’s excitement MJ?!”

“Just admit you don’t know how to say no to her,” MJ retorts, looking ever-bored even with his declaration.

“I mean- _we been knew_.”

At that, MJ’s facial expression and body language finally shifts from its usual boredom and impatience and she looks very, _very_ disturbed. “Who taught you that phrase? Never say that again,” she all but demands.

Peter cowers- in a very manly, superhero kind of way- away from her slightly. “Shuri says it all the time,” he tries to explain with a small voice.

“Okay and you’re not Shuri.”

“Fair point, I’ll never say “we been knew” ever again ma’am.”

“You just said it again,” she responds, unimpressed.

“I mean, we been knew I’m a dumbass.”

“Peter-” she explodes, moving out of her seat to reach across the table and inflict a great deal of pain on him no doubt but Peter is saved by the bell going off so he makes his excuse to sprint to his next class which he fortunately doesn’t have with her.

 

* * *

 

Peter rings the doorbell then takes a step away from the door as he impatiently waits for MJ to come to the door.

Today’s the day.

They’re going up to the Stark-Potts house upstate today to spend a few hours babysitting Morgan. With MJ pretending to be his girlfriend. This is fine. Peter is  _totally_ cool.

His false reassurances fall flat given the way his palms are slick, sweating uncontrollably, and his heart is hammering away in his chest. He has a moment where he considers forgetting all of this and turning around and running for the hills- figuratively, obviously. He’ll just tell Morgan that MJ isn’t really his girlfriend and is just his friend despite the fact that he has a candid picture he took of her during their trip to Europe last summer set as his lock screen and home screen. But then he thinks about Morgan’s disappointed face, brows furrowed in confusion as she tries to come to terms with him lying to her, and lips jutted downwards in a disappointed pout and that stops him.

He doesn’t realise his internal conflict is reflected in his current physical stance, with one foot facing towards MJ’s door whilst the other is facing away from her porch like he’s a shitty analogy for indecisiveness in a high schooler’s English lit essay, until MJ points it out in greeting, “Why are you standing like that, loser?”

Peter’s eyes pan down to his weird stance then back to MJ’s unimpressed, slightly bemused stare before he rights his feet and pivots to face her fully. “Um, hi MJ,” he rushes out nervously, an automatic response to her presence.

She narrows her eyes at him, like she’s trying to figure out what his deal is before turning back to her open front door. “Peter’s here mom! Be back before dinner!”

MJ’s mom shouts something back he doesn’t quite catch but MJ must hear it as she responds, “Okay, bye mom!” before pushing him so they get a move on before he even has the chance to greet her mom. MJ always goes out of her way to ensure him and her mom don’t interact whenever he’s here, that’s if she even lets him come to her house- most of the time she insists they hang out at his place and he's not sure why that is.

MJ has pushed him into the backseat of Happy’s car and is filing in behind him before he can even blink then Happy is pulling away from the front of MJ’s house soon after.

The short ride to Morgan’s school is spent mostly in silence with nothing but the soft music playing from the radio along with Happy’s faint humming being heard. MJ sits with her head resting on her hoodie against the window as she thumbs through a copy of a novel whose title he can’t quite make out as she has it tilted away from his view.

Within half an hour they’re pulling up to the school parking lot and Happy gruffly instructs them to wait in the car whilst he goes to pick up Morgan then leaves them. _Alone_.

Peter sits in silence as he continues to watch MJ out of the corner of his eye until the silence stretches on too long and becomes unbearable- meaning, he lasts about thirty seconds from when Happy turns the ignition, and the radio by extension, off and leaves them alone before he just has to fill the silence.

“So…” he starts nervously.

MJ sighs dejectedly at the interruption before putting her book down to look at him. “Yes?”

“We should probably get our stories straight about how we uh-” he pauses, reaches a hand up to nervously scratch the back of his neck. “How we became a, you know, _a couple_.”

MJ eyes him without saying a word and he’d think she hadn’t heard him if it weren’t for the almost imperceptible quirk of the corner of her mouth in barely contained amusement. “I don’t think a six year old is gonna be grilling us about how we went from being friends to a couple or about how long we’ve been together, Peter,” she says, her smile now uncontained and it almost looks… _fond_.

“This isn’t just any six year old MJ, this is Morgan we’re talking about!” he says with great urgency to get his point across.

She watches him with mirth dancing in her eyes and Peter is momentarily distracted by the way the sun shining through the window behind her silhouettes her frame, making it look like she has a halo around her before he snaps out of his haze.

He clears his throat in a feeble attempt to regain some composure, feeble because he’s almost certain that MJ saw the way he was watching her, mouth agape and drooling just then- MJ never misses a thing. “We don’t have to have a full story but I just feel like there are a few details we should iron out just in case she _does_ ask.”

MJ’s eyes flit to a point behind him then back to him. “Just follow my lead, dork,” is all she says before she turns back to her novel.

Peter doesn’t get the chance to further enquire about what she means by that as Happy opens his door and he’s stood waiting with Morgan on the other side.

“Uh, h- hi Morgan,” Peter greets nervously.

“Hi Peter,” she greets excitedly but she still makes no move to, well, _move_.

Peter looks at the odd pair questioningly for a moment, unsure about what’s going on.

“You have to sit in the front,” Morgan finally explains.

Peter’s head whips around to face MJ then back to Morgan, panic rising at the thought of the two of them, well… _interacting_. Which is ridiculous considering they’re meant to be spending up to four hours with her today so the two were bound to interact at some point but he just didn’t expect it to be this soon.

“Oh no Morgan, you can sit in the front. I don’t mind not riding shotgun,” he says with a nervous, forced casual tone.

“Uncle Happy says I’m too small to sit in the front seat and could get really hurt by the airbag in the event of a car crash,” Morgan says matter of factly in a tone reminiscent of the man in question himself that doesn’t match her six year old self.

“That’s right pumpkin,” Happy affirms, reaching a hand down to ruffle her hair affectionately. “Now move it Pete.”

Peter forces a smile as he moves to unbuckle his seat belt and move to the front, pretending like this development is fine with him.

Once everyone is settled into their seats and all buckled in, Happy pulls out of the school parking lot to start the drive up to the house as Peter nervously watches through the rear-view mirror to see how MJ and Morgan get along.

He kind of expects MJ to just carry on reading her novel and not acknowledge Morgan the way she does with everyone but he’s surprised when almost instantly MJ not only puts her book down, but tucks it away in her backpack and turns her full attention to the girl next to her.

“Hi Morgan, I’m MJ,” she greets excitedly, showing more emotion than he’s probably ever seen her show in all the time he’s known her. So, MJ has a soft spot for kids? Interesting.

“Hi MJ! Peter never stops talking about you,” Morgan says in response and Peter almost groans out loud because why is Morgan exposing him like this?

MJ’s eyes meet his in the rear-view mirror and he can tell she’s loving this by the way the corners of her eyes are crinkled in amusement. She doesn’t break their eye contact even as she replies to Morgan with an eyebrow raised in keen interest, “Oh, _really_?”

“Yep!” Morgan assures and Peter naively hopes it’ll end there and the two will move on to talking about something, literally a _nything_ else before this gets any more embarrassing for him. He’s not so lucky, “He’s always talking about how amazing you are and how you’re gonna be president one day and he shows me all the pictures he’s taken of you. I was really happy he finally asked you to be his girlfriend. When did he ask you to be his girlfriend?”

Peter’s eyes widen with panic momentarily as he eyes MJ in the mirror- see, _this_ is why they needed to get their stories straight before meeting Morgan.

MJ is fortunately quicker on her feet and has a better poker face than he does because she turns to face Morgan to respond without missing a beat, “I asked him to be my boyfriend, actually.

Peter sees the way her head tilts to the side in self-satisfaction at her declaration and she looks too adorable for him to protest.

“Wait, _you_ asked _him_ out?”

“Yep, he was too chicken to do it,” MJ says giving him a sly wink-blink type thing in the mirror.

“Cool,” Morgan breathes out in admiration. Peter can’t even say he’s surprised MJ has managed to impress Morgan so quickly after meeting her- she has that effect on a lot of people.

The pair hit it off and start to chat animatedly about anything and everything, from Morgan’s homework which MJ promises to help her with once they get home, to the latest BBC Frozen Planet documentary. Peter half listens to them as he tries to make awkward small talk with Happy but without mentioning May because even though he’s been back for nearly a year at this point, he’s still not used to the development in their… _relationship_.

Happy soon drops off the three of them and warns them to behave until Pepper gets home before driving away. When the three of them walk into the house Morgan immediately grabs MJ’s hand in hers and starts to drag her to her room, which MJ happily obliges.

“Peter, please can you make us grilled cheese sandwiches?” Morgan shouts back at him, already halfway up the stairs to her room without bothering to look back at him and just assuming he’ll do as she says which… _he will_ , but that’s beside the point.

He scoffs in disbelief at how he’s already being shut out and being treated like some kind of butler/personal chef, with Morgan already seemingly liking MJ more than him before heading to the kitchen to make the grilled cheeses as requested because he really doesn’t know how to say no to any of the women in his life.

Once he’s made three half decent sandwiches he drags himself up to Morgan’s room where he finds her and MJ sprawled out across the bedroom floor surrounded by all of Morgan’s homework.

“Bon appetit guys,” Peter says as he places their plates down on the ground in front of them.

“Peter, you’re gonna get cheese grease on my homework,” Morgan complains with a small pout as she pushes the plates away and starts gathering up the bits of paper to place them far away from the plates of food.

“Yeah Peter,” MJ adds, the amusement in her tone clear as day.

“Uh…sorry,” he eyes the pair suspiciously. They've only known each other for an hour and they’re already ganging up on him. Just great.

The rest of their afternoon proceeds in a similar fashion, the pair either ganging up on him to mock his English skills when he attempts to help out with Morgan’s homework, or they just ignore him most of the time as they whisper things to each other and giggle amongst themselves.

Peter tries to ignore them in turn and do his homework but it’s Chemistry and he can do that in his sleep so he finishes it relatively quickly leaving him with nothing to do but watch MJ and Morgan. They’re now lying down on their fronts, both their legs raised and swinging back and forth excitedly as they watch something on MJ’s phone in between giggling and chatting as animatedly as before.

He can’t help but smile at the image before him, and he has a sudden invasive vision of something similar happening in front of him, except that in his vision MJ is a bit older and instead of Morgan, the little girl next to her looks like a weird mixture of both him and MJ (she mostly looks like MJ though, _thank God_ ). The vision is so staggering for his only eighteen year old self and before he knows it he’s scrambling out of Morgan’s desk chair in shock, too taken aback.

He makes enough of a commotion that he causes MJ and Morgan to look up at him, both eyeing him curiously with eyes narrowed and expressions mirroring the other.

“You okay loser?” MJ asks and there is a hint of concern hidden beneath the more obvious confusion and usual “Peter Parker is a dumbass” expression she’s watching him with. It’s kind of cute.

Peter clears his throat hurriedly as he attempts to right the chair he’d nearly knocked over when he all but jumped out of it, “Yeah, yep. I’m good. _Great_ , even.”

MJ and Morgan continue to watch him with matching confused expressions, with slight undertones of amusement.

“I’m just gonna um, head to the lab for a bit. Um, yeah,” he stutters out before rushing out of the room before he can further embarrass himself.

He goes downstairs and out of the house to go to the back-house Tony had turned into a lab. He hesitates at the door for a brief second, he’s come a long way from when he couldn’t even muster up the strength to go into the lab immediately after the funeral but there’s still a pang of hurt behind his breastbone whenever he comes here. It’s so wholly Tony Stark in a way nothing else left is that it can be a little overwhelming to be in here, hence his hesitation.

He takes a final deep, calming breath before scanning his thumb print and walking into the lab.

He distractedly works on more of his web formula for a while, time getting away from him until he hears the sound of a car pulling up all the way at the front of the house. He wraps up what he’s doing then switches off all the plugs, equipment and lights before walking out of the lab.

When he walks into the main house via the kitchen he finds Pepper there, rummaging through the cupboards.

She almost instantly notices his presence, “Oh Peter, hey. I take it Morgan is with- MJ _,_ was it?”

“Hi and, uh, yeah. They're upstairs.”

The pair in question walk into the kitchen as if on cue, heading straight for the fridge where Morgan grabs two bottles of water for herself then for MJ.

“Hi Ms. Potts, I think we met briefly at Peter’s apartment a while ago but uh, I’m MJ,” MJ greets, sounding uncharacteristically nervous, before stepping forward to shake the older woman’s hand.

Pepper shakes MJ’s hand and gives a warm smile, “Of course I remember you.” She then turns to Morgan who’s more distracted with downing her water, “I hope you haven’t been too much trouble young lady.”

Morgan gulps loudly and closes the bottle once she’s done before turning to her mom, “I would never, I’m an angel.” And she looks up at her mom with her arms behind her back and gives her a wide beaming smile in her best impression of someone completely innocent and blameless.

“I don’t know if I’d go that far,” Pepper mumbles bemusedly before crouching down to press a quick kiss to the top of Morgan’s head in greeting.

She stands up straight then goes back to rummaging through the cupboards the way she’d been doing before when he first came back into the house. “Happy can drive you guys home now or you can stay and have dinner with us if you want, I don’t mind,” she tells them half-distractedly.

Peter looks to MJ, wordlessly letting her know it’s entirely up to her and he’s game for whatever she wants to do.

“I promised my mom I’d be back home for dinner because she has some clients coming over, sorry,” she explains, still sounding nervous which is so unlike her and Peter is so unaccustomed to seeing her like this.

“Oh that’s a shame, maybe another time,” Pepper says with a small smile directed at MJ once she’s stopped looking through the kitchen cupboards.

“Yeah, sure,” MJ agrees in a small voice.

They all stand there in slightly awkward silence, none of them entirely sure what to say before MJ starts to move to leave the kitchen. “I’m just gonna, um, grab my things and help Morgan tidy up,” she mumbles, vaguely gesturing behind her before she walks out of the kitchen with Morgan following suit.

“I’ll stay for dinner soon, I promise,” Peter tells Pepper earnestly; he feels kind of bad for leaving as soon as she came back home like this.

“Honestly Pete, it’s okay. Don’t worry,” she rubs his shoulder to reassure him before she squeezes past him to go to the fridge and grab more ingredients for whatever dish she’s making.

“Okay, I’m just gonna go and grab my stuff too.”

“Bye Peter!”

When he goes up to Morgan’s room he hears quiet chatter coming from the other side of the half closed door, and his curiosity (read: _nosiness_ ) causes him to pause just outside so he can listen to them for a moment.

“Thanks for coming today, MJ,” he hears Morgan say.

“No problem, I had fun. You’re really cool.”

It’s silent for a beat and Peter almost goes to push open the door but he pauses when Morgan speaks up again, “You make Peter really happy.”

“Oh, um…” MJ breathes out, voice barely above a whisper and the only reason he hears her clearly is because of his enhanced senses. She pauses for a second, and from the other side of the door Peter can so vividly picture the way she is likely biting her bottom lip, nervous and unsure of what to say next. An expression she’d wear often at the start of their decathlon practice sessions when she was first made captain, when she was still figuring out how she was going to fill Liz’s shoes, still trying to gain her confidence as a leader.

After a stretch of silence she finally speaks up again, “He makes me really happy too.” She sounds so certain and assured and almost… _sincere_ and Peter’s breath catches in his throat but he doesn’t get much time to dwell on what he did or didn’t pick up in MJ’s tone as the door swings open to reveal Morgan stood on the other side.

“Were you listening in on us?” She asks with hands resting on her hips, clearly unimpressed.

“What? No- _no_ , of course not,” he rushes out, voice rising an octave as he tries to get out his blatant, terrible lie.

Morgan just hums wordlessly before turning back to MJ, who for her part is watching him with an unreadable expression.

Peter opens his mouth, likely to give more excuses and lie to them but MJ interjects, “Okay, we should get going now but it was nice to meet you, Morgan.”

The slight annoyance Morgan had at finding him standing on the other side of the door eavesdropping almost melts away as she starts talking to MJ again. “We should hang out again!” she announces, sounding unbelievably excited at the prospect of spending more time with MJ which he can totally relate to.

Morgan turns back to face him, eyebrows hiked up to her forehead in a silent question.

“Yeah we absolutely should hang out again,” he agrees.

“Maybe we could go to the zoo next weekend?” Morgan asks, voice sounding endearingly hopeful.

“It’s not right to take animals away from their natural habitat and keep them in cages for human consumption,” MJ says, tone so even and serious that Peter wonders if she forgot that she’s talking to a six year old.

“Oh, um, maybe not the zoo then. We could do something else?” Morgan asks, her voice a mixture of confusion at MJ’s statement but still harbouring the slight hopefulness from before. She turns back to face him, eyes wide in desperation. “What do you think we should do Peter?” she asks almost pleadingly, begging him to salvage the moment.

“Um…” Peter hesitates as he thinks for a moment. “We could go to a museum?” Almost instantly he dismisses the idea, “But that might be a little boring, huh?”

Morgan considers his idea for a moment, “You said museums are MJ’s favorite so we should go!”

Peter tries his best to avoid meeting MJ’s gaze and he has a brief panicked thought about just how much that he’s told her about MJ Morgan might have shared with MJ over the course of the afternoon.

“Um, it’s up to MJ really,” he says, still refusing to look at her.

“I’d love that,” MJ says quietly.

“Let’s go next Saturday!” Morgan announces, her previous excitement having returned to her voice.

MJ laughs but agrees all the same and as does Peter, who also promises to call her so they can make proper plans before they gather their things and finally leave.

The drive back to the city is mostly quiet, MJ having gone back to reading her novel whilst Peter for his part just watches her from the corner of his eye in an attempt to not be too obvious with his staring.

When Happy pulls up at the front of MJ’s house Peter gets out of the car to walk her to her front door which MJ calls him a loser for doing, but doesn’t protest much beyond that.

They stand on her porch awkwardly for a moment, neither unsure what to do as he fiddles with the sleeve of his hoodie whilst MJ looks at her house keys as if suddenly fascinated by them.

Eventually Peter speaks, “Um, thank you again for doing this. And for agreeing to go to the museum but just so you know- you don’t have to do that, I can just tell Morgan you’re busy or something.”

“No it’s okay, I wanna go.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, for Morgan not for you though,” MJ adds, bringing some much-needed levity to the awkward moment so things feel normal once again.

Peter snorts at her words, “Yeah, Morgan’s pretty great isn’t she?”

“She is. I’d have pretended to be your girlfriend sooner if I knew it meant spending time with her,” MJ says.

At her words Peter looks up in shock, and he meets her own wide eyes staring back at him and he figures she probably didn’t mean to say that last part out loud based on the expression she’s watching him with.

“MJ, I-” he starts to say, taking a small hesitant step closer to her, but is interrupted by her front door opening to reveal her mother on the other side.

“It’s just MJ, baby!” Her mom shouts back behind her. She turns back to face the pair, “Your dad was creeped out by the black SUV parked out front,” she says in explanation.

“Hi Mrs Jones,” Peter rushes to greet her politely.

“I told you, you can call me Ava Peter,” the older woman says with a gentle, slightly teasing smile that is almost identical to MJ’s.

“How was your guys’ date?” she asks the pair, except her eyes are directed towards MJ specifically.

“Oh my God mom,” MJ groans as she starts pushing her mom into the house.

Her mom giggles and says something Peter doesn’t quite catch. “Um, anyway...text me, loser,” is all she says before closing the door behind her, leaving Peter to watch after her with a small dopey smile.

He’s snapped out of his haze by Happy hitting the car horn to grab his attention after he's been standing there staring dumbly at the door for a little too long.

 

* * *

 

Peter happily trails behind the pair chatting animatedly, voices quiet to match the quiet atmosphere of the museum but animated all the same, ahead of him. They’re pointing to all the various paintings they go past then exchanging words, with MJ doing most of the talking, likely telling Morgan about each piece they go past.

He’d tried walking in line with the pair but there isn’t quite enough space for three people to walk in a line, and MJ and Morgan kept leaving him out of their conversations anyway. Feeling like he was a third wheel- a third wheel to two best friends rather than a couple because that's _so_ much worse- he ended up falling out of step with them and instead chose to walk behind them. From behind them he can watch the two of them interact much more easily so it’s not so bad.

He’s so distracted watching the two of them interact, how it’s so natural and easy the same way it was before when they went to the house upstate, that he doesn’t realise when they stop walking and almost walks into them.

“Oh, sh- _crap_ ,” he rushes to correct himself when MJ subtlely tilts her head down towards Morgan in warning. “Why’d you guys stop?”

“Morgan says you’re dragging us both down and we should do something else,” MJ explains with what’s meant to be a straight face but her lips kind of quiver as if she’s trying to contain a giggle and wow- _why_ is he watching her lips so closely?

When MJ’s words finally register, he realises the insult, “How am I " _dragging"_ you guys down?”

“We wanna enjoy the art without having to constantly look back to see if you’re okay Peter,” Morgan announces with such certainty that despite the fact that it’s kind of offensive, Peter is more amused by her words.

“I-” Peter starts to try and defend himself. “I can go to the gift shop whilst you guys finish off in that case.”

Morgan’s eyes widen in panic at his words which Peter narrows his eyes at in confusion because that’s not the reaction he was expecting. “Or…not?” he tries to placate.

“No, we should all stay together!” Morgan protests.

“Let’s go grab a bite to eat together then maybe we can come back another time Morgan, _alone_ ,” MJ adds in her best negotiating tone, eyeing him bemusedly as she punctuates the “alone” part.

With that, the little trio leave the museum and head to a nearby burger place where Peter and Morgan order cheeseburgers and MJ gets a large portion of fries which she finishes within like a minute flat before she starts digging into Peter’s own portion that came with his burger.

“I don’t get it,” Morgan starts between bites of her burger, “If you want more fries why don't you get more instead of stealing Peter’s?” The question is directed at MJ though she doesn’t look up from her burger as she asks it.

Peter snorts before he can stop himself, his milkshake almost coming out of his nostrils, and looks at MJ with his eyebrows raised expectantly.

“Girlfriends are meant to steal their boyfriend’s fries, it’s the law,” MJ responds with a shrug, not missing a beat.

Morgan takes another bite of her burger and chews it, her face screwed into a thoughtful expression as she considers MJ’s words for a moment. Once she’s swallowed the bite down she then speaks, “You know, you and Peter don’t really seem like a couple. Not like my mommy and daddy.”

Peter has to resist the urge to look to MJ with panicked eyes because then he’d just look guiltier. Instead, he clears his throat then tries to diffuse the potential situation on their hands, “Well, your mom and dad are- _were_ \- married and we’re just boyfriend and girlfriend, plus we’re really young so it's different.”

He briefly looks to MJ for approval that he did a good job covering for them and she shrugs minutely which he takes to mean “good job, dork”.

“Okay,” Morgan responds, seemingly satisfied with his answer.

Peter goes to take a breath of relief but then Morgan carries on, “But I’ve never seen you guys hold hands or kiss or do anything couples do."

He can feel heat blooming in his cheeks and he knows his face is turning crimson red right now without having to look at his appearance.

Fortunately MJ decides to step in and salvage this, “Public displays of affection are gross.”

“Holding hands isn’t gross,” Morgan counters defiantly.

MJ turns to eye Morgan, scrutinising her for a moment then finally she seems to make a decision on something. “You know what- _you’re right_ ,” she declares before reaching across the table to grasp Peter’s hand in her own.

Peter gulps almost audibly because _wow_ , he’s holding hands with MJ. Her hand is so incredibly soft and smooth and isn’t covered in callouses like his own gross hands are. He revels in the feeling and warmth of her hand for a moment before he panics about how unpleasant the experience must be for her because his hand isn’t as soft and it’s probably so clammy right now. He goes to let go of her hand as she’s chatting to Morgan about something else but without looking up at him she just tightens her hold on his hand so he can’t let go.

They stay like that, holding hands, for the rest of their lunch and even after as they go for a walk around Central Park.

MJ walks in the middle with Peter on her left side and Morgan on her right side and when Peter suggests Morgan go in the middle instead so they can both hold her hand Morgan dismisses the idea, stating something about how it’d be embarrassing for her to walk around holding both of their hands when she’s six not two.

So they walk around with MJ in the middle, and Peter’s hand still firmly in MJ’s grasp and Peter tries to squash down any thoughts about how he could get used to this and instead tries to contribute to MJ and Morgan’s conversation.

Morgan is asking lots of questions about MJ’s drawings and for tips on how she can get better, but again, Peter is only half-listening to the conversation, instead being too distracted by the warm feeling watching this side of MJ- all softness and patience in a way she isn’t with him or any of their friends- as she interacts with Morgan.

Eventually they find a bench to sit on and MJ finally puts her foot down on Morgan always insisting MJ and Peter be next to each other as she sits on the end of the bench and instructs Morgan to sit in the middle, between him and MJ.

Morgan finally starts to acknowledge his presence and they talk about how school is going for her and she updates him on how the sciences and Math are her favorite subjects, which isn’t surprising at all given whose daughter she is.

At one point when Morgan is telling him a story about a demonstration they were shown in their chemistry teacher in class (along with complaints about how they weren’t allowed to do it themselves because they were “too young”), Peter’s eyes drift up to look over Morgan’s head to look to MJ. He finds her watching the two of them with an unfamiliar expression on her face, unfamiliar because he’s never seen it on her face and lest of all not directed at him. She has a soft smile on her face and her expression almost reads as adoring but before he can read further into it, MJ's eyes meet his own and both of their eyes widen in slight panic at how they’ve caught each other staring and they hold the stare for a brief second before MJ breaks it and pulls a book out of the backpack in her lap and hurries to look away.

Morgan realises Peter is barely paying attention to her so stops telling her story and turns her attention back to MJ. “Whatchu reading?” she asks as she scoots along the bench to be closer to MJ, Peter already forgotten, which is kind of hurtful but he’s becoming accustomed to this.

“It’s a book called ‘ _Dune_ ’. Do you wanna see?” MJ asks and Morgan nods so MJ lifts her arm and makes room for Morgan to sit cuddled up to her side so she can see the book then she starts reading it out to her.

Once again Peter finds himself mesmerised by the image before him but it’s interrupted when he zones in on what sounds like the sirens for three separate fire trucks not too far away from them, meaning duty calls.

He hates having to leave right now but he has a duty to the city so gently he turns to his girls, “Hey guys, I-”

“Go ahead, we’ll probably still be here but text me after anyway just in case,” MJ tells him, already knowing what he’s about to say before he can get the words out. She’s likely become used to this after a full year of him always having to bail on her or leave halfway through their movie nights with Ned.

“Thank you,” he says with a small smile and it’s genuine because out of all the people in his life that are in on his secret identity, MJ is always the most understanding about it. She treats him like she did prior to him telling her- or _well_ , her figuring it out herself- and never makes a big deal about it, even that one time he showed up to her house almost bleeding out which they don’t talk about.

“Bye Peter,” Morgan says distractedly without looking up from the novel in front of her which makes Peter smile because it's so reminiscent of MJ.

He leaves the pair and runs to a relatively well hidden alley to change into his suit then he swings towards where the commotion is originating from where he finds a large apartment building on fire. The firefighters are already there working on putting the flames out but he hangs around anyway until the fire is fully out, swinging around the building, honing all his senses into the building to see if there are any people that may still be trapped inside.

There aren’t any, but he stays till the all clear is given just in case anyway and by that time three hours have passed already so he tells Karen to send a text to MJ letting her know he’s done and asking where they are as he makes his way back to where he left his backpack with his civilian clothes.

Once he’s changed he heads to the café MJ told him to come to where he finds the two of them sat next to each other, giggling at the other’s milk foam moustaches. Peter just hangs back near the door to watch them for a moment but MJ looks up, seemingly noticing his presence almost straight away, to throw a smirk his way like she knew he’d been watching them.

He’s thus forced to go and join them, and he listens attentively to Morgan as she tells him what her and MJ got up to whilst he was away doing superhero stuff in his "spandex onesie" (something Morgan almost certainly got from MJ) and about what happened in _their_ novel as they wait for Happy to come and pick her up.

They file out of the café when Happy texts them to let them know he’s parked a block over since he couldn’t find any parking closer to the cafe so they walk together to him, and it’s dark out now so Morgan agrees to walk in between the two of them unlike earlier.

When Morgan is all buckled into the back seat when they reach the car she rolls her window down to say her goodbyes. “Thanks for today guys. I love spending time with you two,” she says, voice so soft and sincere that Peter can’t help but smile and from the corner of his eye he sees that MJ wears a matching smile.

Once they say their goodbyes the two of them head to the nearby subway station and head home. They sit in seats right next to each other, bodies lined up from shoulders to thighs with no words exchanged between them but it's not awkward, it's comforting.

It’s only when they’re nearing MJ’s stop that she finally speaks up, “You know, I really like spending time with you.”

Her voice is so quiet and nervous and Peter isn’t sure he heard her right, and he fails at containing his nerves/excitement as he whips his head up to look at her, mouth hanging open.

MJ clears her throat and hurries to amend, “With you _two_ \- you and Morgan, I mean.”

Peter tries his best to contain his disappointment and smiles back at her, smile slightly strained. “Me too. I like spending time with you- and Morgan, too.”

“See you on Monday, dork,” she says in farewell before hopping out when they pull up to her stop, once again leaving Peter smiling after her like the idiot he is.

 

* * *

 

Peter waits patiently for Morgan to make her decision about which snacks she wants, briefly eyeing MJ who's also watching Morgan with a small amused smile. They’ve been waiting here for coming to five minutes for Morgan to choose what type of popcorn she wants for their movie, and the employee stood in front of them is clearly starting to get frustrated and impatient but is trying his best to not show it based on the smile- which is more of a grimace at this point- which he maintains.

“Okay,” Morgan says with a final tone, clearly having reached a decision after much deliberation. “We’ll have the salty popcorn.”

The guy behind the counter opens his mouth in slight shock at the fact that after all the posturing and deliberating that’s what Morgan decided on and Peter has to bite his bottom lip to contain a laugh.

“Um, sure,” the guys says as he finally kicks into action to get them their popcorn.

Peter lets a small laugh escape once the guy walks away to go to the popcorn machine. They’d managed to get roped into coming to another little one of these dates with Morgan last time he was visiting her and Pepper when he had mentioned Star Wars offhandedly, which had somehow lead to Morgan admitting she’d never seen it and suggesting that her, him and MJ should go and watch it at her local theatre because they were showing the new one.

Peter had already seen it opening night with Ned and a reluctant MJ, and really, he shouldn’t have kept this lie about MJ being his girlfriend going but Morgan had bust out the puppy dog eyes and looked so excited at the prospect of spending time with MJ- something which he related to- so he’d found himself agreeing before he could stop himself, figuring begging MJ to come was a problem for later.

“Are you sure you want the salty popcorn?” Peter asks Morgan, amusement lacing his words.

“Yes,” Morgan declares.

He pays for Morgan’s popcorn, MJ’s candy (which causes her to eye him threateningly but he does it anyway which he'll likely get into trouble for doing later) and his own gummy worms then the trio head to their screen.

Their screening is surprisingly not that busy and when they get to their seats, Peter tries to sit so Morgan is between him and MJ but she insists that MJ sit between them so her and Peter are next to each other the way she always insists they do during these little dates.

“Morgan, are you sure you don’t wanna sit in the middle?” MJ presses.

Morgan just shrugs like it’s not a big deal. “This way you two can hold hands.”

Peter opens his mouth to reassure her that this is really not necessary and she should sit in the middle but MJ shuts him up by grabbing his hand and resting their intertwined hands on the armrest between them.

The trailers and movie plays but Peter is honestly too distracted by MJ’s hand which is in his to really pay attention to anything that happens on screen and he’s so grateful he’s already watched the film before, with Ned having sat between them the last time meaning he was able to pay attention rather than be distracted by her side profile back-lit by the blue light of the screen the way he is currently.

Before he knows it, the film is finished, a fact which he only realises when the theatre lights come back on and MJ tugs on his hand to get him to stand up. He blinks rapidly to bring himself back to the present and looks up to see MJ and Morgan standing there waiting for him to get a move on so he scrambles out of his seat so they can walk out of the theatre.

MJ has to leave early today so they wait with her in front of the theatre for her mom to come and pick her up, and the whole time they're waiting MJ doesn’t let go of his hand.

When the car he recognises as being Mrs Jones’ pulls up in front of them MJ rushes to let go of his hand- a reaction which gives Peter pause.

Mrs Jones rolls the passenger window down. “Hi Peter, Morgan,” she says in greeting with a small wave as MJ steps forward to get into the car and Peter and Morgan wave back in greeting.

“Bye Morgan,” MJ says with a smile to the little girl in question. Her eyes then move to Peter, “Loser.”

She then climbs into the car and they wait there for a moment as she buckles her seat belt.

“Did I see you guys holding hands?”

“Mom, oh my God,” Peter catches that little titbit of their conversation as MJ closes her window back up before the car pulls away from the theatre. He files what he heard away for later as him and Morgan start to walk away to head back up to the Stark-Potts home.

When they’ve been walking for a few minutes, with Morgan’s hand in his own as their hands swing back and forth between them, Morgan speaks up out of nowhere. “Peter, can I tell you something?”

“Sure.”

“I’ve already watched the Star Wars movie we went to watch today,” she admits in a quiet voice.

Peter’s steps falter slightly because she’d told him she hadn’t seen it before hence this whole trip so he's a little lost but he recovers almost straight away. “What do you mean?”

“Well, um, I went to watch it with mummy when she didn’t have work last week.”

“Okay…” Peter isn’t sure what’s going on here. “So why did you tell me you hadn’t seen it before?”

“It was the only way.”

“The only way?” Peter asks, beyond confused.

“I’ve been trying to get you and MJ to go on dates so you guys finally become boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“Wha-what? We’re already boyfriend and girlfriend; what do you mean?”

Morgan slows to a stop, thereby forcing Peter to stop as well before she turns to fully face him to ensure he can see her disbelieving facial expression. “I know you’re just pretending.”

Peter’s mouth goes agape as he tries to figure out what his best move here should be. “What? No we're not p-”

“Yes you are,” Morgan interrupts whatever lie he was gonna come up with. “But I know you like her.”

He stares down at the little girl in front of him because of course she knew he was lying, she’s one of the smartest people he knows so he shouldn't be surprised she saw right through their lie. Eventually he sighs, realising the jig is up, “Okay you’re right. But MJ doesn’t like me as more than a friend.”

Morgan suddenly breaks out into a smile that looks entirely too conspiring. “Yes she does.”

She says it with such certainty that Peter momentarily wonders if maybe MJ does indeed like him back before he almost as quickly dismisses it because this is MJ. She’s so intelligent and smart and pretty and one of the best people he knows, she’s miles out of his league. There’s no way she likes him.

“No Morgan, we’re just friends,” he says once they finally start walking again.

“Why did she say yes to being your fake girlfriend if she doesn’t like you?” Morgan asks, and Peter is almost offended at the condescension he detects in her tone, like she thinks he’s the world's biggest idiot which might be true but it's still hurtful.

“She was just being a good friend,” he tries to reason.

“Just think about it Peter,” is the last she says on the matter then they carry on walking back to her house and talk about the movie and other things that don’t involve MJ.

And think about it he does, the entire time they’re walking back and once they’re at the house and he helps Morgan out with her homework and does his own schoolwork he can’t shake her words. They linger at the forefront of his mind the entire time.

It’s all he thinks about it even once he leaves their place and heads back to Queens.

 

* * *

 

“Wait, where’s Morgan?” MJ asks, looking around the house they're both just realising is actually empty.

“Happy said apparently she has swimming club until 2pm today,” Peter says by explanation. A fact that Morgan conveniently forgot to mention to him last time they spoke when she'd invited him and MJ to come and hang out.

“Why did she tell us to come at 1pm then?”

Peter is pretty sure he knows why and it probably has something to do with the conversation he had with her a couple of weeks back. She’s such a little scheming six year old.

“Oh, um, maybe she forgot she had swimming?” Peter tries to explain, clearing his throat nervously.

“Okay, I’ll just read in the meantime then,” MJ says with an easy shrug as she goes out onto the porch to settle on one of the chairs that faces the nearby lake.

Peter trails after her and goes to settle on the chair opposite hers. For a while he pretends to be doing something on his phone but eventually gives up and looks up to watch her, still thinking about what Morgan said about MJ liking him the same way he has done for past two weeks since his conversation with Morgan.

She doesn’t notice his staring for a while and continues just reading her book until she eventually puts her book down and looks up at him, “What, loser?”

Peter panics at having been caught staring. “Oh, um, nothing.”

“You’ve been watching me like a weirdo for the last fifteen minutes with a panicked look in your eyes so there’s obviously something on your mind. It’s not often I offer to be your shoulder to cry on so you better take this offer up while it lasts and tell me what's up.”

Peter rubs his suddenly clammy palms on his jeans as he tries to figure out the best way to approach this. “So you’ve enjoyed all these dates- _play dates_ , I mean, that we’ve had with Morgan right?”

She simply nods her head in reply.

“Well Morgan, she kinda, um, she knows that we’re not really boyfriend and girlfriend,” Peter says in a quick whisper.

“What?”

“I said, um, she knows that we’re not really-”

“No I heard you, dork. I just meant- if she knew that we're not a couple, why has she kept on inviting us to these "play dates" as you put it?” she asks, putting air quotes around the term.

“Um, well…”

“Well?” MJ questions, slightly impatient.

“Well, I guess she kind of had this idea that we liked each other and was trying to play matchmaker? I don’t know,” he says it more to his lap, too scared to look up and meet her eyes.

“Oh,” is all MJ says in response.

Peter doesn’t look up; he doesn’t want to see the expression on MJ’s face right now, whatever it might be. He’s too scared, so he just carries on staring down at his lap.

“Peter,” MJ prods, tone gentle.

He finally looks up at her and only once he’s met her eye does she continue, “Morgan is very perceptive for a six year old.”

Now it’s Peter’s turn to be rendered speechless. “Oh.”

“Yeah, _oh_.”

Then after a beat, “Wait, what does that mean?”

MJ huffs out a laugh at that and rolls her eyes, “It means, maybe I do like you, loser.”

“Oh.”

“I’m gonna need a little more than that one word Peter, I’m kind of being vulnerable with my feelings and stuff here.”

“I meant um, oh, I like you too. Like, _a lot_. I’m just surprised you like me back, I thought you didn’t like me like that,” he rushes out.

“Peter, why would I agree to pretend to be your girlfriend if I didn’t like you back?” She asks incredulously, but there’s no real bite to it.

“That’s what Morgan said.”

“Like I said, she’s very perceptive for a six year old,” MJ repeats her earlier words.

“She really is,” Peter says with a smile. Then, “So, would you maybe want to go on a date sometime? Without Morgan, I mean.”

“I quite enjoy our dates with Morgan, actually,” she says as she moves to cross her arms.

“Oh, I didn’t mean we have stop hanging out with Morgan. I just meant- maybe sometimes it could be just the two of us,” Peter stutters out nervously.

“Why, so you can try some funny business?” She asks, eyes narrowed dangerously at him.

“What, no! No funny business, I promise. I’d never do anything you didn’t want to do!”

MJ suddenly breaks out in a wide grin, and because he can’t help but smile whenever she does, Peter finds himself grinning back at her even though he’s not so sure what exactly they’re smiling about. “I was just messing with you, loser,” MJ eventually gets out.

“O- _oh_.”

“Do you have other words in your vocabulary besides “oh” because I’m gonna need a boyfriend with a more extensive vocabulary,” she says with a small wink, or, _well_ \- what he assumes was meant to be a wink because MJ is perfect in every way but she really cannot wink.

“I totally know other words,” he says, pretending to be offended at her jibe and trying to mask his giddiness at her use of the word "boyfriend".

She narrows her eyes daringly as if she doesn’t believe him, “Sure you do.”

“I know so many words, words like, like, um-” he finds that he forgets every word in existence at that moment as MJ gets up out of her chair and comes to pull him up out of his own chair so they’re now stood close to each other, faces mere inches apart- so close that he can feel her breath fan over his face.

“How about we go inside and get up to some funny business for the last twenty minutes we have alone before Morgan comes back then you can tell me all the words you know later?” she breathes out and all Peter can do is nod enthusiastically and blindly follow her as she drags him inside.

They make out for a bit on the couch, but things don’t go too far because it feels wrong when it’s neither of their house and they don't have much time on their hands.

“Hi guys!” Morgan greets excitedly when she swings the front door open just as the two of them are hurriedly pulling apart. She looks so pleased and self-satisfied at the sight of the two of them.

What a scheming little six year old.

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this after I watched Endgame but I left it because I had exams and came back to it now. It kind of kept growing into this monster of a oneshot but I didn't wanna break it up into a multi-chapter because I have three other unfinished fics so...yeah. Hope you enjoy and as always, comments and kudos are much appreciated!!!
> 
> Find me on tumblr @tvfanatic97-2 and on twitter @dayaspsychic x


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